Colorado attorney general candidates to attend local meet-and-greet

Roaring Fork Valley residents will have an opportunity to meet three of Colorado’s Democratic candidates for attorney general over coffee this Saturday morning at a forum organized by community members.

Hosted outside Sprazzo in Carbondale, the free event aims to make the political process more accessible at a local level, with candidates Hetal Doshi, Michael Dougherty and David Seligman in attendance.

“I think it’s easy to become disillusioned in our current political moment and check out as a defense mechanism, but these statewide offices have a huge impact on our day-to-day lives as Coloradans,” said attorney and event organizer Quentin Morse.

“For the attorney general’s office in particular, it is a very Front Range-centric role that the Western Slope has no involvement with,” he continued. “I know there are a ton of lawyers and community members in this valley who care about our state and have a vested interest in shaping who their next AG is, but have no easy way to get to meet these candidates. The purpose of the event is to provide free, direct access to these candidates that most people in the valley would otherwise not have.”

The Colorado Democratic primary election is June 30, with four candidates on the ballot. Incumbent Attorney General Phil Weiser is term-limited and running for governor.

Dougherty is the district attorney for Colorado’s 20th Judicial District, with experience as a state prosecutor in Colorado and previously as a local prosecutor in Manhattan.

Jena Griswold has served as Colorado’s secretary of state since 2018 and previously served as director of the Colorado governor’s Washington, D.C., office.

Seligman is a workers’ rights, consumer rights and antimonopoly lawyer and executive director of Towards Justice, a nonprofit legal and labor rights organization.

Doshi is a former federal prosecutor who served as deputy assistant attorney general for the U.S. Department of Justice’s Antitrust Division and previously as an assistant U.S. attorney for Colorado.

Morse cited a small, free speaking engagement by Weiser that he recently attended as the catalyst for organizing the event.

“I was inspired by the direct connection that meeting fostered within the community,” he said. “As an attorney intimately familiar with the work the attorney general’s office does throughout the state, I realized I didn’t know anything about the Democratic candidates for the upcoming vacancy. Later that night, I cold-emailed the Democratic candidates about coming to the Roaring Fork to meet members of our local bar and the community more generally.”

With coordination and community outreach from Basalt Mayor Pro Tem Hannah Berman, the candidate forum soon became a reality.

“It took zero dollars, a handful of emails and a few candidates willing to prioritize getting to know rural voters, and that’s the whole point,” Berman said.

She also stressed the importance of creating opportunities for constituents to meet with those seeking elected office, rather than limiting access to campaign events with large suggested donations.

“Having a free event with no RSVP needed helps normal people get to know the candidates and, more importantly, enables the candidates to get to know people in the Roaring Fork Valley,” she said. “This will be a friendly, casual opportunity to see whose platform resonates best with your values and worldview.”

Doshi, one of the candidates attending Saturday’s meetup, echoed the importance of creating opportunities for open dialogue between those running for office and their constituents.

“At a time when confidence in government is at an all-time low, it’s critical that candidates for public office are transparent, inclusive, and responsive. That means open forums and answering questions, which not every candidate has done,” Doshi said. 

The meet and greet will begin at 10:30 a.m. Saturday at Sprazzo in Carbondale, and it is open to anyone interested in Colorado’s next attorney general.

“Everyone is welcome. This is a homegrown event organized by young people to be especially accessible to young people. And if politics isn’t your thing, that’s fine, but the burrata toast from Sprazzo is life-changing,” Berman added.